State Ex Rel. Farrington v. Rigg
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State Ex Rel. Farrington v. Rigg
Opinion of the Court
TMs is an appeal from a district court order denying a petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Petitioner is servmg a life sentence for murder. The killing occurred on August 25, 1939. Construing the petition with the great liberality extended to pro se pleadings, it alleges that petitioner was illegally arrested and jailed in the early morning hours of August 26, 1939, that the arrest was without warrant or reasonable cause, and that petitioner was demed a preliminary hearmg. On August 29, 1939, petitioner was indicted for murder in the first degree. Thereafter he was tried, found guilty, and duly committed to the penitentiary.
Petitioner has previously sought a writ of habeas corpus unsuccessfully and has appealed from the demal. That appeal was dismissed on procedural grounds. State ex rel. Farrington v. Rigg, 248 Minn. 49, 78 N. W. (2d) 721. Smce the merits of petitioner’s allegations were not considered previously, we have examined his contentions on this appeal.
Giving petitioner’s claims the form m which they would be cast by a lawyer, they are that since petitioner was arrested and held illegally by the police the court did not acquire jurisdiction over him and therefore Ms subsequent trial and sentence are void. In support of such claims petitioner refers to the Webb
The Coplon case involved an appeal from a judgment of conviction of conspiring to defraud the United States. The court of appeals held that the arrest of the defendant was illegal and that therefore evidence secured at the time of the arrest was incompetent and inadmissible against defendant. In both the Webb case and the Coplon case it was plainly stated that the decision did not preclude trial and conviction of defendant when properly brought before the court.
While many of the modem cases hold that where a defendant is unlawfully arrested a search made as a part of the arrest is also unlawful and evidence obtained thereby is inadmissible against that defendant,
In considering this issue we must differentiate between jurisdiction of the subject matter and jurisdiction of the person. Jurisdiction of the subject matter cannot be conferred by consent. A sentence pronounced by a court which lacks jurisdiction of the subject matter is wholly void and may be attacked directly or collaterally at any time.
Jurisdiction of the person may be conferred by consent and objections to such jurisdiction may be waived.
Habeas corpus to test the validity of confinement of a person held under a criminal conviction and sentence is a collateral attack upon the judgment or sentence.
Affirmed.
City of St. Paul v. Webb, 256 Minn. 210, 97 N. W. (2d) 638.
United States v. Coplon (2 Cir.) 185 F. (2d) 629, 28 A. L. R. (2d) 1041, certiorari denied, 342 U. S. 920, 72 S. Ct. 362, 96 L. ed. 688.
Ibid.; Smith v. State, 228 Miss. 476, 87 So. (2d) 917, 58 A. L. R. (2d) 1052; People v. Cahan, 44 Cal. (2d) 434, 282 P. (2d) 905, 50 A. L. R. (2d) 513, and Annotation at 531.
City of St. Paul v. Stovall, 225 Minn. 309, 30 N. W. (2d) 638; State v. Siporen, 215 Minn. 438, 10 N. W. (2d) 353; State v. Pluth, 157 Minn. 145, 195 N. W. 789.
State ex rel. Hansen v. Rigg, 258 Minn. 388, 104 N. W. (2d) 553; State ex rel. McGilton v. Adams, 143 W. Va. 325, 102 S. E. (2d) 145, 70 A. L. R. (2d) 1425.
State ex rel. Adams v. Rigg, 252 Minn. 283, 89 N. W. (2d) 898.
State v. Abdu, 173 Minn. 95, 216 N. W. 540.
State ex rel. Rajala v. Rigg, 257 Minn. 372, 101 N. W. (2d) 608.
State ex rel. Brown v. Fitzgerald, 51 Minn. 534, 53 N. W. 799; State v. Abdu, 173 Minn. 95, 216 N. W. 540; State ex rel. Adams v. Rigg, 252 Minn. 283, 89 N. W. (2d) 898; State v. McClung, 104 W. Va. 330, 140 S. E. 55, 56 A. L. R. 257, and Annotation at 260; Commonwealth v. Gorman, 288 Mass. 294, 192 N. E. 618, 96 A. L. R. 977, and Annotation at 982.
Concurring Opinion
(concurring specially).
I concur in the result. I see no need of discussing the question of admissibility of evidence obtained as a result of an unlawful search. That question is not involved here. Furthermore, the so-called “modem cases” are directly contrary to the rule we follow in this state. The case of United States v. Coplon (2 Cir.) 185 F. (2d) 629, 28 A. L. R. (2d) 1041, certiorari denied, 342 U. S. 920, 72 S. Ct. 362, 96 L. ed. 688, was decided in 1950. Our case of City of St. Paul v. Stovall, 225 Minn. 309, 30 N. W. (2d) 638, was decided in 1948. One is about as modem as the other. Petitioner has not raised the question of admissibility of evidence, nor could it be raised in a proceeding for a writ of habeas corpus.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- State Ex Rel. Wilber E. Farrington v. Douglas C. Rigg
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